Recommended Age Group

The New shop's inventory is as spectacular as its design.
The first level contains a wide array of items for children,
including books, toys, t-shirts, and stuffed animals. The
second-floor book mezzanine houses the most comprehensive
collection of natural history books in New York City, along
with a large selection of videotapes and CD-ROMs.

American Museum of Natural History

For 125 years, the American Museum of Natural History
has been one of the world's preeminent science and
research institutions, renowned for its collections and
exhibitions that illuminate millions of years of the
earth's evolution, from the birth of the planet through
the present day.

Permanent Installations

The New York Times Capsule, a 5' x 5' x 5' sculpture of
welded stainless steel designed by renowned Spanish architect
Santiago Calatrava, contains diverse artifacts chronicling
life in the late 20th century.

The brand new Discovery Room offers families and
especially children ages 5-12 a hands-on look at the
Museum and its sciences.

Starry Nights: Fridays Under the Sphere

October's Starry
Nights: Fridays Under the Sphere will feature the
uncommon music of Vinicius Cantuaria, composer,
guitarist, singer, and one of Brazil's most
promising contemporary artists. His fresh take on
bossa nova has reawakened interest in the smart and
sultry style. Born in Manaus in the heart of the
Amazon and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Cantuaria has
spent the last six years in New York City, where he
feels he can "be more Brazilian."

At The Museum

by Jason Wiggins

The Natural History Museum is one of the most famous tourist
attractions in New York City. The architecture alone makes
the museum stand out; it's a huge, sprawling stone building
that reflects an eclectic mix of design styles. The Central
Park West entrance has towering white columns and a bronze
statue of President Theodore Roosevelt on horseback, other
parts of the building look Medieval, with towers like on a
storybook castle, and the Rose Center is as modern as a
building can get, a glass box with the new Hayden sphere
floating in the center.

The most important thing to know when planning a visit is that
the museum is huge so plan to do a lot of walking and stair
climbing. There are four floors of gallery space and the
building is spread over an area of several city blocks.
Inside there are 42 permanent exhibits and several temporary
ones covering everything in creation from the beginning of
time to the present, every discipline of human science:
biology, ecology, zoology, geology, astronomy, and
anthropology. The museum presents its collection of millions
of artifacts with detailed information about the cultural,
scientific, or historical importance of the pieces. It's
quite possible to spend hours just in the Halls for Asian,
African & South American Peoples.

The new Rose Center for Earth and
Space, which replaced the old Hayden Planetarium, is an
ultra modern building that looks like it could have come from
a science fiction story. It's a clear glass cube, which is
dominated by the sphere of the new planetarium theater. A
spiral walkway winds down from the sphere, through scale
models of stars, galaxies and planets hanging from the
ceiling, to the gallery's floor. Besides the theater, the
Rose Center also exhibits a history of the Universe from the
Big Bang till now, narrated by Jodi Foster, models of various
stellar bodies to emphasize the relative sizes of objects in
the Universe, an ecosystem contained inside a glass ball and
an assortment of other space related displays.

The Natural History Museum is a must-see, especially if you're
traveling with children, since many of the exhibits appeal to
a person's sense of wonder and curiosity. There is no fixed
admission price, just a recommended donation, but that doesn't
include the Sky show, IMAX Theater or temporary exhibits. The
museum is an extremely popular place to visit, so food and
gifts will cost tourist prices. Also, it may get quite crowded
sometimes, so getting to look closely at a display can be hard
on weekends, but it's definitely still worth a visit.